Outlook: Chicago overcame a dreadful start in 2013 and made a late playoff charge
thanks mostly to a brilliant performance from Mike Magee, who came from Los Angeles in a
blockbuster early-season trade. If Patrick Nyarko and former Crew midfielder Dilly Duka can stay
healthy and have an impact on the wings, Magee can transition into more of a playmaking role rather
than just a scorer. Yallop’s preferred 4-1-4-1 formation could expose defensive midfielder Jeff
Larentowicz, however, and much of this team still seems a work in progress.

Columbus Crew

CREW STADIUM (20,145)

Coach: Gregg Berhalter (first season)

Outlook: A number of notable players are gone, including the final links to the
2008 MLS Cup champions, but it is hard to find many positions where the club is better than it was
a year ago. The Crew will need someone to emerge as a goal scorer after Dominic Oduro and playmaker
Federico Higuain, and Berhalter’s vision will take time to implement. This will be a team that has
better structure and professionalism than in past years, but it’s tough to see that leading to a
playoff spot.

D.C. United

WASHINGTON/RFK STADIUM (45,596)

Coach: Ben Olsen (32-57-27, fifth season)

Outlook: United is as good a bet as any to improve this season because it can’t
get much worse than last year’s finish (3-24-7). The club was the first in MLS history to win three
games or fewer, but it has almost completely revamped its roster with a number of key additions.
Eddie Johnson is a lock to beat out “own goal” as the team’s leading scorer from a season ago, and
defenders Bobby Boswell and Jeff Parke should help keep a few teams out of the net.

Houston Dynamo

BBVA COMPASS STADIUM (22,000)

Coach: Dominic Kinnear (128-87-101, 11th season)

Outlook: Houston knows what an MLS Cup championship-caliber team looks like: It
has lost to the team that’s won the title each of the past three seasons. Last year, the Dynamo was
knocked out by eventual champion Sporting Kansas City after losing the championship to the L.A.
Galaxy in the previous two seasons. This year’s team remains formidable with Will Bruin, Boniek
Garcia and Brad Davis all poised to create havoc for opposing defenses. But the defense could be a
cause for concern — particularly at center back.

Montreal Impact

SAPUTO STADIUM (20,341)

Coach: Frank Klopas (39-29-23, fourth season)

Outlook: Another year, another new coach for Montreal as Klopas takes over for
Marco Schallibaum, who was known as much for his frequent suspensions by the league as for leading
the Impact to its first-ever playoff appearance. Klopas inherits a team that will miss stalwart
defender Alessandro Nesta, although Montreal allowed the third-most goals in the conference last
season. There are concerns about the midfield, and this could be a team built to counter. Potent
scorer Marco Di Vaio will get some help up top from key offseason acquisition Santiago Gonzalez,
but how much his teammates can pitch in will determine whether or not Montreal returns to the
postseason.

New England Revolution

FOXBOROUGH, MASS./GILLETTE STADIUM (20,000)

Coach: Jay Heaps (23-28-17, third season)

Outlook: The Revolution’s 14 wins last year equaled the team’s total from its
previous two seasons, and Heaps led the club to the postseason for the first time since 2009. He
did so on the strength of a young group of players including Kelyn Rowe and Diego Fagundez, who
will be counted on to show continued improvement this season. Juan Agudelo and Matt Reis are gone,
leaving some holes to fill at the defensive end of the field, and this remains one of the younger
teams in the league.

New York Red Bulls

HARRISON, N.J./RED BULL ARENA (25,189)

Coach: Mike Petke (17-9-8, second season)

Outlook: After Petke led New York to the Supporters’ Shield, the first-ever trophy
for the organization, the Red Bulls didn’t mess much with the roster. Midfielder Bobby Convey and
defender Richard Eckersley will slot right into the starting lineup, but otherwise things will look
very much the same for a team that led the league with 58 goals last season.

Philadelphia Union

CHESTER, PA./PPL PARK (18,500)

Coach: John Hackworth (20-23-14, third season)

Outlook: The Union generated headlines by signing national-team midfielder Maurice
Edu, and his pairing with fellow acquisition Vincent Nogueira in the central midfield should settle
the team’s defensive end. This is a team that looks poised to take a big step forward this season
and challenge for at least a conference championship.

Sporting Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, KAN./SPORTING PARK (18,467)

Coach: Peter Vermes (59-39-34, fifth season)

Outlook: Sporting Kansas City finally broke through last season, winning the MLS
Cup for the second time and first since rebranding itself for the 2011 season. Now that success
means more games after the team played 45 last season, and Vermes’ club will enter the regular
season with a handful of injuries already at hand. Fan favorite Jimmy Nielsen retired after
spending the past four years in net, and he is replaced by longtime backup Eric Kronberg — with
former Crew goalkeeper and Kansas City, Mo., native Andy Gruenebaum waiting in the wings.

Toronto FC

BMO FIELD (21,800)

Coach: Ryan Nelsen (6-17-11, second season)

Outlook: No team had a more noticeable offseason than Toronto. A number of
high-profile signings capped by the acquisitions of Michael Bradley and Jermain Defoe means the
team now is expected to compete for a championship rather than just stay out of the cellar. New
pieces take time to develop chemistry, however, and Toronto figures to have some early bumps in the
road before the team can jell. For Nelsen’s sake, sooner would be better. Otherwise, there could be
an in-season coaching change.

Western Conference

Chivas USA

CARSON, CALIF./STUBHUB CENTER (27,000)

Coach: Wilmer Cabrera (first year)

Outlook: The team enters its final season with its current name. The league
purchased Chivas with plans to sell it to a group that will keep the team in the Los Angeles area.
There’s little to suggest the team can contend for the postseason. Chivas surrendered a
league-worst 67 goals last season and hasn’t addressed its porous left side. Defensive midfielder
Andrew Jean-Baptiste has plenty of upside if he shows more maturity.

Colorado Rapids

COMMERCE CITY, COLO./DICK’S SPORTING GOODS PARK (17,424)

Coach: Pablo Mastroeni (interim)

Outlook: The Rapids have yet to name legendary player Mastroeni as the permanent
coach. It’s a sign of the overall uncertainty surrounding a team that has to replace the most
essential part of its 4-2-3-1 formation: central midfielder Hendry Thomas, who now plays for FC
Dallas. Second-year midfielders Deshorn Brown and Dillon Powers have star potential, but Colorado
has all the preseason makings of a team poised for a regression year.

FC Dallas

FRISCO, TEXAS/TOYOTA STADIUM (20,500)

Coach: Oscar Pareja (first year)

Outlook: Pareja inherits a group that needs to start living up to the hype after
years of showing promise. Players such as Fabian Castillo have shown potential in flashes, but it
needs to start coming together for Dallas to make a step forward. Dallas will certainly benefit
from having Blas Perez for the entire season after having split time with Panama’s national team in
each of the past two seasons. New midfielder Hendry Thomas should make a big impact.

Los angeles Galaxy

CARSON, CALIF./STUBHUB CENTER (27,000)

Coach: Bruce Arena (159-97-54, 12th season)

Outlook: The Galaxy fell short of becoming the first team to win three consecutive
MLS Cups, but plenty of firepower returns for another run at the title. Any team led by Landon
Donovan and Robbie Keane will present problems for other teams, but it will be the continued growth
of players like Omar Gonzalez that will ultimately decide how far the Galaxy can go. Gonzalez looks
the part of the next top central defender in the league for years to come after signing as a
designated player last season. New goalkeeper Jaime Penedo looks to be an upgrade over Carlo
Cudicini.

Portland Timbers

PROVIDENCE PARK (20,674)

Coach: Caleb Porter (14-5-15, second season)

Outlook: Hats off to Porter, the former University of Akron coach, for turning the
Timbers into the top team in the Western Conference in his first season. Although Portland came up
short in the conference championship, the club looks even more formidable this season after adding
Argentine forwards Gaston Fernandez and Maximiliano Urruti to an attack that already boasted
playmakers Diego Valeri and Will Johnson. Right now, this looks like the team to beat in MLS.

Real Salt Lake

SANDY, UTAH/RIO TINTO STADIUM (20,008)

Coach: Jeff Cassar (first season)

Outlook: Cassar inherits a team that was as dominant as any in the league last
season before losing the MLS Cup on penalty kicks. There are no major additions to this year’s
team, which means players such as Luis Gil, Chris Schuler and Devon Sandoval must continue to
develop and mesh with a core group that is nearing the end of its prime years. This team is built
on chemistry and a shared sense of identity and should challenge again for the title. The early
going will be no cakewalk: four of the first six games are on the road.

San Jose Earthquakes

SANTA CLARA, CALIF./BUCK SHAW STADIUM (10,525)

Coach: Mark Watson (11-5-3, second season)

Outlook: San Jose was not nearly up to the task of repeating its Cinderella run to
the 2012 Supporters’ Shield, and Watson took over as interim coach at midseason when things got
ugly. He led the Earthquakes to the league’s best record during the last 14 games of the season
while allowing only 10 goals during that stretch. During the offseason, San Jose added 28-year-old
Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi with the hopes of upgrading its central midfield by harnessing his
distribution skills. The club will benefit from a healthy Chris Wondolowski, whose goal-scoring
totals dropped from 27 in 2012 to 11 last year while playing with a broken toe. This year’s team
will likely finish somewhere between its past two season totals — 19 wins in 2012 and 14 in
2013.

Seattle Sounders

CENTURYLINK FIELD (38,500)

Coach: Sigi Schmidt (177-130-101, 15th season)

Outlook: It turns out that it wasn’t all-or-bust for Schmidt last season, but it
was close. After years of knocking on the door, 2013 was supposed to be Seattle’s year — especially
when it landed Clint Dempsey in a blockbuster summer move. Instead, the Sounders failed to advance
past the conference semifinals and Schmidt appeared to be on his way out. Instead, he returns with
a team that again is pegged for great things. Forward Kenny Cooper and former Crew defender Chad
Marshall join Dempsey, who needs to raise his game after a lackluster first season with the team.
The same to an extent goes for Obafemi Martins, who should team with Dempsey for one of the league’s
top scoring threats. Anything less than a major trophy could mean Schmidt’s end in Seattle.

Vancouver Whitecaps

BC PLACE STADIUM (22,000)

Coach: Carl Robinson (first season)

Outlook: The Whitecaps finished fourth in the league in scoring but failed to
reach the postseason after tying for the third-most goals allowed. Offensively, Vancouver must find
a way to replace the 22 goals Camilo Sanvezzo took with him after he left the team over a contract
dispute, and it will start with Kekuta Manneh and Darren Mattocks. Steven Beitashour will add to
the offense from right back as well, but how well this team’s midfield is able to mesh will
determine how successful Robinson will be in his first season.